First off, this year there is a new beer pavilion, one celebrating “15 Beers For 15 Years.” You can’t miss it, it’s a large one loaded with bottles of beer when you first enter the World Showcase. The beers include: Fischer Amber, Full Sail Amber, Key West Sunset Ale, La Fin Du Monde, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Smithwick’s, Widmer Drifter Pale Ale, Widmer Hefeweizen, Abita Amber, Abita Purple Haze, B.B. Burgerbrau, Banks Beer, Florida Lager, Sessions Lager and Viru Pilsner.

A solid selection. Not exactly anything rare in there, you can find most at the local Total Wine & More in Orlando or at many bars around the area, but still a refreshing selection compared to the usual theme park find. The prices were also very fair, with 6 oz. ranging between $2.75-$3.25 and 12 oz. ranging from $5-$6.25.

Some other happy gems I found during my drinking tour of the festival:

Puerto Rico’s Bacardi Frozen Torched Cherry Colada. A creamy, frozen treat that was well worth standing in line for. I also heard their Bacardi Frozen Limon Mojito was equally delish.

France’s Grand Marnier Orange Slush is an annual tradition for me. I always look forward to the Creamsicle with a kick taste in my mouth. Good news is that you can order the drink year round — it’s not just served during the Food & Wine Fest, but I reserve it for that occasion. I think the best comment I heard about the slush was from my friend’s mom who said because of it she never seems to make it past France while at the World Showcase. It’s really fantastic!

For the Sam Adams fans, there are a ton of different beers from the brewer at the Hops and Barley Market across from America Gardens stage. Seriously, a great selection.

There were a couple of low points.

One was when Ireland couldn’t serve Guinness because no one knew how to tap a keg. Really?

The other slightly hindered another fave drink of mine: the Fiesta frozen margarita in Mexico. They weren’t completely frozen, and sort of slushy. But the tequila was in there and as the lady in front of me said, that is what matters.

Belgium ran out of bottled water for about an hour and a half while I was there too.